Russian trawler with 132 crew sinks in freezing waters

At least 54 crew members die and 15 more are missing after their fishing trawler Dalniy Vostok sank in the sea of Okhotsk off the far north east coast of Russia. Rescuers save 63 of those on board.

(Video: footage of the Dalniy Vostok on a previous voyage and the rescue mission command centre in action)

THURSDAY 02 APRIL 2015

Over 14 vessels took part in the rescue operation off the Kamchatka peninsula after the Dalniy Vostok sank within 15 minutes late on Wednesday 1 April.

The reasons for the accident are not yet clear.

Russia's Tass news agency quoted the deputy head of the Kamchatka region Sergei Khabarov, saying that the crew may have broken safety rules by exceeding its cargo capacity. "According to preliminary information, the shipwreck happened while [the ship was] hauling a 100-tonne dragnet," Mr Khabarov was quoted as saying.

The Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source at the regional rescue centre saying that large amounts of drifiting sea ice may have damaged the ship's hull.

The crew of the trawler included 78 Russian nationals, as well as 54 foreign nationals - among them workers from Myanmar, Ukraine, Lithuania and Vanuatu.

Safety on board

Following the tragedy, the far eastern transport prosecutor's office initiated a review of safety at sea.

Senior Assistant Yelena Barsukova told the media: "In the course of this review we will assess whether the ship was at sea legally, we will look into the availability and quantity of the life-saving equipment, we will look whether the SOS signal was sent in timely fashion, we will check the crew qualifications and we will assess the actions by controlling authorities that gave a permission for the ship to sail into the [Okhotsk] sea."

Russia has a poor safety record on such matters, with negligence and corruption often the cause of accidents.

In 2011, 130 people died in one of the worst post-Soviet maritime disasters, when an ageing and overcrowded tourist boat sand on the Volga river.